Yoannia Hernandez had a four-year-old daughter from a new relationship and wanted to move abroad
14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 31 October 2024 — Yoannia Hernández was murdered by her ex-husband early Thursday morning in the 26 de Julio neighborhood of the city of Holguín. According to a resident of the area who spoke to 14ymedio , the attacker had a history of violence. “A few years ago he stabbed a neighbor of mine,” said the same source, who knew the victim well.
The 32-year-old woman, known to her family and friends as Yuyi, had been an art instructor and had a daughter with a foreign man, who has now been orphaned at the age of four. Although she lived in Holguín, this neighbor explains, Hernández frequently traveled outside the island. Meanwhile, her relatives say, the alleged murderer harassed her.
“He blackmailed her and asked her for money for his vices and his habits,” said another neighbor. “He killed her in front of a group of people, it was not in private. Several people said she said ‘I told you no, I won’t give you any more’, and then he grabbed her by the arm, stood up and stabbed her.”
With this femicide, there are 41 sexist crimes in Cuba so far this year, according to the ’14ymedio’ registry
They also say that the young woman had previously sought legal advice to take her daughter out of Cuba to a European country, which the sources cannot specify, and where the girl’s father resides.
With this femicide, there are now 41 such crimes in Cuba so far this year, according to 14ymedio’s records. The most recent known murder was that of Tamara Carreras Martínez, 57 years old and a resident of Santiago de Cuba, last Thursday. Her partner and alleged aggressor was later attacked by local residents.
Before her, also in Santiago de Cuba, the femicide of Yucleidis Morales was confirmed.
The murder of Yoannia Hernández in the early hours of Thursday morning took place two days after the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) issued its observations on the island, which included a section dedicated to gender violence.
In this regard, the organization asked the government to incorporate the crime of “femicide” in the Penal Code, to “raise awareness and public recognition,” “strengthen measures to prevent, prosecute and punish perpetrators of cases of gender violence against women,” and establish shelters throughout the State, “including in collaboration with civil society organizations.”
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